The AAA motor club states that about a half-million fewer people will be driving 50-plus miles this July 4 weekend simply due to gasoline prices. Another 38 percent have postponed a trip because of gas prices; 23 percent have re-routed trip plans to stay closer to home.

Here then is some good news and good advice, local alternatives guaranteed to give you that getaway feel for under five gas-guzzling gallons. (All calculated from Chapel Hill.)


If Wrightsville is wrong ...

Chapel Hill Community Center Director Lisa Baaske said that retaining public swimming hours between the campers at the Center's indoor pool is a challenge, but it remains a priority.

Through July 20, it's open for public swimming 1:30-2:55 p.m. Monday through Friday, 5:15-7:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2:30-6:35 p.m. Sundays.

Prices for Orange County residents are $3 per adult, $2 for youth, and $1 for pre-schoolers.

Check the Chapel Hill Parks & Rec web site or call 968-2790 for updates.

Baaske noted that the A.D. Clark pool at Hargraves Center also is open for free public swimming: 12:15-1:45 p.m. Monday through Friday, and noon to 7 p.m. on weekends, with additional public swimming beginning at 4:15 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 7 p.m. on Fridays.

If you want to experience that honest-to-goodness-sand-between-the-toes beach getaway, however, Jordan Lake offers everything short of surfing and salt water taffy.

Sandy beaches are located at Jordan Lake's Ebenezer Church, Seaforth, Parker's Creek and White Oak Recreation Areas. Admission prices are $5 per car or $10 per bus or van, no matter how many occupants, but bring cash or the checkbook, because debit cards aren't accepted.


Beside the Pointe ...

If the slides and fountains of a water park such as one would find at Wet 'n Wild at Emerald Pointe are more your style, the 98-foot water slide at the Meadowmont pool off N.C. 54 in eastern Chapel Hill offers a local alternative.

A children's playground, a raindrop (a mushroom-shaped spray), shoreline entry, a snack bar, sand volleyball, basketball goal, comfortable lounge chairs and a regulation-sized lap pool reflects all the creature comforts -- enough features to keep the kids (or adults) occupied through the better part of a day.

Meadowmont Pool is open 10 a.m. through 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is $9 per person weekdays and $12 weekends. (Ages 3-10 get in for $10 on weekends.) The pool also offers a 10-pack -- 10 individual admissions for $85, noted Meadowmont pool's Anna Osborn.

For more information, call 945-0640.


No Nagging

If fishing along the HoiyeTyders' "Ootar Banks" is what floats your boat, you could save considerable gas at local lakes.

Cane Creek Reservoir and University Lake are open for boating, fishing, picnicking, sunbathing and other alcohol-free recreation.

University Lake, located off Jones Ferry Road in western Carrboro is open Fridays through Mondays, 6:30 a.m. through 6 p.m. (And it'll be open July 4 and Labor Day.)

The Cane Creek Reservoir, located off N.C. 54 about eight miles west of Carrboro Plaza is open on Saturdays from 6:30 a.m. through 6 p.m.

These OWASA lakes are stocked with bass, crappie, catfish, bluegills and other fish. A North Carolina fishing license is needed except on July 4.

Orange Water and Sewer Authority also offers canoes and flat-bottomed boats for rent. Citizens can use small private boats for a $3 launch fee if they are inspected by the OWASA lake staff.

The normal fees for renting OWASA boats are $8 per first person (Orange County resident) and $4 for each additional adult. Children 12 and under and seniors 65 and over are $2.

For more information on the Cane Creek reservoir, call 942-5790; for information on University Lake, call 942-8007.

For those more interested in following the four winds, sunfish sailboat rentals and kayak rentals are available just a bit farther afield at Lake Crabtree County Park in Morrisville, just a short shot along I-40. Located on a 215-acre site adjacent to a 520-acre flood control lake, the park's main attractions include fishing, boating, hiking, group and individual picnicking, mountain biking and nature study. For more information, call 460-3390.


Attitude, not altitude

The road less traveled need not be long, and a little less elevation need not lower expectations.

In the heart of Chapel Hill, the beautiful woodlands of the Chapel Hill North Forest in Chapel Hill or a Bolin Creek-side stroll along Carrboro's Adams Tract offer miles and miles of trails for hikers and bikers. Wildlife, dense forests, and a complete infrastructure of trails -- many of them graded and maintained -- offer local birders, conservationists, naturalists or erstwhile pavement-pounders a paradise in their own backyard.

While local off-road enthusiasts the Trailheads (www.trailheads.org) offer maps of many of the trails online, the Chapel Hill North Forest Management staff posts additional trail maps at numerous entry points to the trail system.

One can enter the paths from Municipal Drive (off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard across from Piney Mountain Road), along Seawell School Road or through the Adam's Tract parcel from Carrboro's Wilson Park.

For further information, contact the Forest Management team at forestmanager@fac.unc.edu. Forest staff are available at their office off Municipal Drive weekdays, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Also, Duke Forest Trails are to the north and east of town; Jordan Lake has hiking trails south of Chapel Hill.

Then there's Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, a 295-acre forest that is one of Orange County's most important natural areas; entrances dot Turkey Farm and Mount Sinai roads.

Occoneechee Mountain State Park off Orange Grove Road in Hillsborough has a tower on top at an elevation of 867 feet. Several hiking trails lead to the river and small fishing ponds. An overlook sits above a sheer, 200-foot cliff face.


Need Speed?

With NASCAR speedsters burning all of that gas at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, do your part to conserve and visit the Orange County Speedway in Rougemont. The site is the same as the original Trico Motor Speedway, which was built (near the juncture of range, Durham and Person counties) in the early 1960s. Originally a dirt facility, the track was paved and is currently a 3/8-mile asphalt, high-banked oval, perfect for some intimate side-by-side bump-and-rubs. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students, and kids 10-and-under enter free.

The speedway also plays host to the Orange County Relay for Life Race for the Cure, Tar Heel Rally-cross events, bicycle time trials, Boy Scout Jamborees, and other charity functions.

Visit the Orange County Speedway's Web site (www.ocstrack.com) for more information, or call them at (336) 364-1222.


Left field

With the college season over and UNC's Boshamer Stadium in the midst of renovations in any case, one of the best deals in all of baseball -- major or minor leagues -- remains a trip to watch a Durham Bulls home game. With some tickets costing not much more than a gallon of gas and a promotion virtually every night, it's a super bargain to support a team that has played host to more rising stars than American Idol. For more information, visit the expansive Web site (www.dbulls.com).


Beat the Heat

Put other getaway plans on ice and set a course northward for the Triangle SportsPlex in Hillsborough. Skating at the facility's ice rink usually is available 1-4 p.m. daily and 7:15-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Skating fees are $6 for adults and $5 for children under 13, with skate rentals for $3. (Cheapskates bargain rates on rentals are Tuesdays, 5:45-7:15 p.m.)

Call the SportsPlex at 644-0339.

Only slightly warmer is a trip to the Mardi Gras Bowling Center, off N.C. 54 east of Chapel Hill, near I-40. Summer specials began last weekend, and money-saving promotions run every night of the week. For more information on how to stay cool on the bowling lanes versus heating up in the interstate fast lanes, visit their Web site at www.mardigrasbowling.com.